Better known as Lito, Rafael Ibarra was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 1957. He
holds professional degrees in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration, as well
as a graduate degree in New Information and Communication Technologies.
Lito's work and expertise in the field of Information and Communication Technologies,
more particularly the Internet, include private, academic and government companies and
institutions, both in El Salvador as well as in the region of Central and Latin America.
Since 1993, a time when Central America was starting its journey towards the new
connectivity, Lito has been actively involved in the process of developing, disseminating
and appropriating the new forms of communication with the aim of using them as a means
for human development and differentiation. He managed and administrates the .SV domain
name delegation (received from Jon Postel), as well as an IPv4 address block equivalent to
a class B.
Lito participates in organizations and initiatives related to domain names, IP addresses,
widespread access to technology, educational computing, Internet exchange points, e-
government, e-commerce, Internet governance and other issues relating to the Information
Society in general.
In addition to serving as Founding President and Executive Director for SVNet (Top Level
Domain Registry for El Salvador), he participates in various socio-technological ventures
and cooperates with private technology and telecommunications companies, government
institutions, academic institutions, and NGOs.
Lito is also the founding vice-president of El Salvador Fab Lab Association, and he is also
a founding member of the Open Hardware Salvadorian community. He is part of private
initiatives that support innovation and entrepreneurships among young people, both in the
digital development market and in the maker philosophy and movement.
At the international level, Lito is a founding member of LACTLD and RedCLARA; at the
national level in El Salvador, he is a member of SVNet, Infocentros, RAICES, Asociación
Conexión, Club TIC, and CasaTIC. He is also director of the Salvadoran ICT Cluster,
President of the Advisory Council on Innovation, Science and Technology and involved
with other private organizations and companies having to do with the industry. He regularly
contributes to print and digital publications, and frequently gives lectures and conferences
aimed at disseminating and promoting the proper use of new technologies. His blog can be
found at http://blogs.laprensagrafica.com/litoibarra/
Lito served on the boards of LACTLD, RedCLARA and LACNIC, and was the first and
only person so far to be part of these boards concurrently. He also serves on the boards of
non-profit organizations, government entities and private companies in El Salvador. He
contributes to LACNIC as a Board Member, serving since 2010. Starting in October 2015,
he serves ICANN as a Board Member.
Lito has conducted research and directed graduation theses and projects on related topics.
He is considered an authority on Knowledge Society issues in El Salvador and other
countries around the region, which is the reason he is frequently interviewed by the media
and invited to be a part of government, international cooperation and multilateral agency
initiatives. He is known as the "father of the Internet" in El Salvador because of his role in
its initial management and his subsequent contributions. He has served on judging panels at
national and international events and has been honored with several awards for his work.
He is married, and has three children and two grandchildren, from whom he is able to learn
firsthand the sociology and psychology of the new digital society in which we live and the
evolution of which we must define.